Over the summer, many schools assign projects in order for students to continue working and learning year round. However, It is an incredibly heated debate as to whether teachers or students should design these assignments. Teachers should design the summer projects rather than students because they can prepare the students for the upcoming curriculum, introduce their style of teaching, and set expectations for work ethic and quality of work for assignments throughout the year.

Some could argue that it is more beneficial for students to design summer projects because students can make them more enjoyable. However, this should not be the case because it compromises the whole point of summer assignments. If students were to create them, the content of the assignments would not be as helpful. Summer projects are not necessarily about being enjoyable. Their purpose is to ensure that students do not become to accustomed to doing nothing over the extensive period of wasted time called summer break. They keep students tethered to reality and are reminders that the beginning of school is nigh. They are helpful because they keep students' brains used to learning and working over the summer in order to make the start of the new year less painful. Teachers need to design the summer projects to ensure that the assignments retain their purpose and that they are helpful in keeping students busy over the summer. If a student designed them, they would not be as serious or helpful, and they would lose their purpose.

Through summer projects, teachers can prepare students by introducing information that will help them later in the year. For example, if there was a summer project for a chemistry class, the teacher would want to develop it so that it relates to the upcoming curriculum and provides a good introduction for the year. So, perhaps the teacher would assign work on the basic topics of chemistry, namely what an atom is and what the parts are, the periodic table, nomenclature, and simple chemical reactions. By doing so, students begin the school year with knowledge that can allow them to grasp the later curriculum with more speed and ease. Summer projects are perfect for setting the foundation for the school year, laying the ground upon which the building of knowledge can rise. Teachers are the only ones who can create the most efficient and effective summer projects to maximize their students success, considering they know the material like the back of their hand and they are the ones who are teaching it.

With summer projects, teachers can introduce themselves to students as far as their methods and techniques of teaching goes. It can be a shock, for some students, starting the school year blindly without any hints as to how the teacher is going to relay the curriculum to them. For example, one teacher may enjoy using textbooks to teach the subject, so he or she might assign pages to read or even a problem set for the summer. On the other hand, a teacher may prefer lectures, hands on learning, or visual learning. A summer project could match the teachers style of teaching, providing a proper introduction to the school year. Therefore, only teachers themselves can create a summer project that is successful in reflecting their personal style of teaching. This allows the students to know what to expect when starting the new year, and can lead to more success, more confidence, and less anxiety about staring anew with a teacher.

By designing summer projects, teachers can communicate and demonstrate their expectations for the year regarding work ethic and quality. Along with a summer assignment, a teacher could attach a rubric, for example, to clearly state what he or she expects out of a student. They can highlight how much effort the class requires, and state that students should put pride and care into all of their assignments throughout the year. If these expectations are not created over the summer, the beginning of the school year could be rough for students if they are not sure about how demanding each assignment is. By the teachers designing the summer projects, they can eliminate any confusion students may have over the summer, resulting in a smoother transition into the school year.

In conclusion, teachers should design summer projects in order to prepare students for the year, introduce themselves and their style of teaching, and set the expectations for the school year. Think about the real purpose of summer assignments: to make sure students are still learning over break, and though summer assignments may not be enjoyable, they are invaluable and indispensable to the school year, so they must be created by teachers in order to assure their effectiveness. 